Apple Volcano Experiment - Fun Science Activity

If you would like to turn a regular fall afternoon into an exciting learning adventure give this easy apple volcano experiment a try! It was so much fun to watch the “lava” erupt from the center of the apple and it was such a great science experiment for fall!

3 apple volcanoes sitting on a pan. One red, one green and one blue

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The other day my kids and I decided to take some of the fallen apples we had gotten at our local orchard and create our own apple volcano experiment!

We have done apple stamping and created the cutest apples out of bleeding tissue paper, so we were excited to make our apple volcanos which turned into a really fun fall science experiment.

3 overflowing apple volcanoes mixing colors on a pan. Green, blue and red volcanoes.

This activity is perfect for kids of all ages, my toddler and preschooler loved it just as much as my elementary aged daughter. How could you not get excited about something exploding?! 🙂

This is a really fun, hands on, messy experiment that provided a lot of great learning opportunities.

Although this is a great year round activity, apple crafts are perfect for fall and would be a great addition for an apple unit study! You could pair this activity with one of our favorite fall books about a girl who travels the world to find ingredients for her apple pie.

Materials Needed

Apples
Baking soda
White vinegar
Dish soap
Pan to catch overflow lava
Food coloring
Pipettes (optional for playing with the “lava” afterwards)

pan on counter with apples, food coloring, dish soap, baking soda and vinegar

Step By Step Instructions For Your Apple Volcano

Step One: Take your apple and use a knife to cut around the stem and scoop out the center of the apple to create a volcano crater. Place your apple on the pan.

Step Two: Fill the apple volcano with a spoonful of baking soda, a small squeeze of dish soap and a couple drops of food coloring.

3 apples with the center scooped out on counter

apple with baking soda, dish soap, and food coloring in center

Step Three: Slowly pour vinegar into the apple and watch the simple chemical reaction occur creating your apple volcano!

pouring vinegar into a prepared apple volcano

Step Four (optional): Use your pipettes to play in the “lava” and create fun color combinations!

Please note that we recommend adult supervision especially if doing this with younger kids, things can get messy quickly especially if you decide to use food coloring!

child playing with a pipette on a leftover apple volcano

Learning Opportunities

Encourage kids to record observations– they could talk about the intensity of the eruption, was it affected by how fast or slow the vinegar was poured, what did they smell and hear during the eruption, and what was the apple like before and after the volcano explodes
This is an awesome way to talk about the basics of chemical reactions– You can discuss how the bubbles form as carbon dioxide is released from the reaction between the sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and acetic acid (Vinegar)
Discuss steps of the scientific method– prediction, observation and conclusion

Tips & Variations

Try different sized apples and more or less baking soda to see if the intensity of the eruption changes
Add a drop of dish soap for bigger, foamy eruptions
Pair with other volcano experiments like this snow volcano or lemon volcano to compare the experiments

If you are looking for an easy science experiment for fall this apple volcano is a perfect choice! We would love to see photos of your apple volcanos on Instagram or in our comments!